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This is supposed to be a good show i guess. Anybody here watch it?

Religiously. It's chock full of amazing performances and interesting/surprising story arcs, but what really puts it over the top is the meticulous attention to period (early '60's Madison Ave. advertising executives and the people they interact with) detail. Donald Draper is one of the greatest cable television creations!

carax09 wrote:Religiously. It's chock full of amazing performances and interesting/surprising story arcs, but what really puts it over the top is the meticulous attention to period (early '60's Madison Ave. advertising executives and the people they interact with) detail. Donald Draper is one of the greatest cable television creations!

Yeah, I've recently gotten hooked (thank you, On-Demand) and love the attention to period detail and the fact that they don't shy away from the less flattering aspects (sexism, racism, etc.) of the times. Also, the dialogue is very well-written -- clever and provides all kinds of insights into the characters. Plus, it's good to see John Slattery in such a high profile show. He's excellent.

I watched an episode just to see what everyone was raving about and then wound up buying the entire 1st season and rolling through the discs in about 3 days. It's fantastic in my eyes, but its brilliance sort of sneaks up on you in a very smooth and reserved way.

I'm sure some people will just dismiss it as a celebration of misogyny and capitalism, filled with rich, white, arrogant men. On some level it might be all those things, but its also great critique of the society that creates, respects, and even worships these people and glorifies their lifestyle. It's also fairly obvious that these characters are not meant to be viewed as all that sympathetic.

Plus, there's a certain mischievous delight in watching all the office politics. The "Red in the Face" episode, with all its marvelously subtle treachery and devious retaliation, has got to be one of my favorite episodes of television. The look on Roger's face when he finally grasps that Don may have knowingly designed the entire situation as revenge might be faint and understated, but it's also priceless and a marvel of restrained television.

It just stinks that I can't watch new episodes because of Canadian cable.

Fletch F. Fletch wrote: Plus, it's good to see John Slattery in such a high profile show. He's excellent.

I agree. He was my second favorite character in "K Street". I, too, am now making my way through Season 1 and enjoying it.

I can't really add to the above praise without sounding like a broken record, but it's some damned fine television, indeed. Though I've had the set since it was released, I still can't bring myself to listen to any of the commentaries, and I don't know if I ever will (probably once this season is over...maybe). I kind of don't want to break that wall between the almost hermetic value the show instills in me while viewing it; that would be almost obscene to lift the lid off it all. Kartheiser's Campbell is so believably weaselly that I often forget that I'm even watching a tv show sponsored by BMW. I am happy that this book is now backordered indefinitely, possibly due to the second season premier - advertising works!

pianocrash wrote:Kartheiser's Campbell is so believably weaselly that I often forget that I'm even watching a tv show sponsored by BMW.

Yeah, he's great. I've been a fan of since first seeing him in Another Day in Paradise and his recurring role on Angel. It's nice to see him in another substantial role. I really loved the conversation between his character and Don in the pilot ep. where he's put in his place for being rude to Don's new secretary.

I think every subscriber on Netflix has the first disc in their queue because I don't see it ever getting sent to anyone

my comcast cable has it on demand, in HD no less, so I'll prob check it out this week

Fantastic show. And the S1 DVD is great. It's packaged like a giant Zippo lighter!

I've made it through half of the first season so far and it's pretty entertaining. Certainly owes quite a debt to The Sopranos: that "slow-burn" addictive quality of the episode progression, the psychiatry scenes, the poetic endings to most eps., but that slow-burn does become boredom at a certain point. Nonetheless, several brilliant moments make up for a sagging narrative. I'm thinking, for instance, of the scene where Betty was babysitting Helen Bishop's kids and the little boy walks in on her in the bathroom. The subsequent gift of a lock of her hair was one of the creepiest/sweetest scenes in recent memory.

I've been enjoying the show as well, but I have to ask, does anyone find the flashback sequences kind of clunky? I can at least remember in "The Hobo Code" that I found the flashback sequences a bit too pat, like they revealed far too much (in an obvious way) in one episode. I also think some of the *wink* *wink* BOY THE 50'S/EARLY SIXTIES SURE WERE RIDICULOUS humor a bit grating at times, it takes me out of the story. Other than that I've been enjoying the show a lot, it's not quite at the level of the best of Sopranos, The Wire, or Deadwood, but has at least helped to fill my TV addiction void since those shows left the air.

Robert de la Cheyniest wrote:...does anyone find the flashback sequences kind of clunky?...I also think some of the *wink* *wink* BOY THE 50'S/EARLY SIXTIES SURE WERE RIDICULOUS humor a bit grating at times, it takes me out of the story.

I'd like to think that the first seasons of most of the newer crop/era of cable shows are hard to look back on (the first seasons of The Sopranos and Six Feet Under are still a bit clunky in retrospect), so I've chalked it up to debut album jitters. The remains of Don's back story hopefully won't be so pat in the future, as I'm sure the writers & directors have gotten the more plodding aspects of it out of their systems (let's hope), as with the "ridiculous" quips (save Paul Kinsey's ridiculously hilarious new beard). Thankfully, the rest of the show more than makes up for those little problems, I think, which is why the enthusiasm is so high in the first place.

Obviously many people love Mad Men, but the overwhelming misogyny made this series such a chore for me to slog through. I don't care if it serves or thinks it serves a higher purpose, it was just nauseating and so persistent that I wasn't able to enjoy anything else about it-- and the winking sixties fetishism didn't help things much. Oh well, add this to the Sopranos as another television phenom that leaves me cold.

AMC adds more 'Mad Men'.

However, "Talks between Lionsgate, Weiner continue". You can bet they are going to offer him the sky to keep the show going.

Finally working my way through season 1 and I have to add to the chorus of praise here. While I understand Domino's revulsion at the show's misogyny, I feel that, along with its casual racism as well, it's a period and industry detail that can't be overlooked. It's supposed to make you feel uncomfortable and frankly, advertisers now still largely focus on the white middle class and have no idea how to market to different ethnic groups or women. If they do market to women, it's to sell them cleaning products, drugs or clothes/makeup, and they do so by either reinforcing some pretty old stereotypes about women's roles in the home or by preying on body image issues Madison Avenue created decades ago. As for ethnic groups, they're still largely reduced to tokenism.

The only misstep I've noticed thus far in first season is the subplot involving Donald Draper's past. I don't find it all that compelling and thus far, doesn't really add any extra dimensions to his character. In episode 6, it begins with a flashback to his childhood that is never again brought up in the rest of the episode and feels distractingly out of place. I hope the writers abandoned it as the series moved forward. I prefer Draper being, more or less, a complete mystery.

I hope as the show continues (though I guess I'll see what I get to Season 2), the changing social forces of the '60s come into sharper relief. But this is one of the better new shows I've encountered in a while.

Antoine Doinel wrote:The only misstep I've noticed thus far in first season is the subplot involving Donald Draper's past.

I thought this initially too. Just wait...

domino harvey wrote:the overwhelming misogyny made this series such a chore for me to slog through. I don't care if it serves or thinks it serves a higher purpose, it was just nauseating and so persistent that I wasn't able to enjoy anything else about it-- and the winking sixties fetishism didn't help things much.

I feel the same. Portrayals of misogyny or casual racism don't bother me but the whole premise of this show is a wink-weren't the 60s so unPC-wink. It's tiresome and the rest of the show is either 1. really obvious and so uninteresing - e.g. mousy girl can write or 2. ridiculously over stated-Draper has a deep dark past complete with flashbacks.

It's better than most TV but that's not really saying a lot.

chaddoli wrote:

Antoine Doinel wrote:The only misstep I've noticed thus far in first season is the subplot involving Donald Draper's past.

I thought this initially too. Just wait...

Wrapped up season one tonight and yeah - wow - you were totally right. Now to track down season two....

Ruby wrote:I feel the same. Portrayals of misogyny or casual racism don't bother me but the whole premise of this show is a wink-weren't the 60s so unPC-wink. It's tiresome and the rest of the show is either 1. really obvious and so uninteresing - e.g. mousy girl can write or 2. ridiculously over stated-Draper has a deep dark past complete with flashbacks.
It's better than most TV but that's not really saying a lot.

Yeah, I thought that series 2 was a lot better than series 1. I think it's also a series whose real brilliance lies in small moments rather than the big plot arcs. The issue with Peggy 'getting fat' was poorly handled, ditto Draper's marriage. In fact, two seasons in and Im not sure that the 'Draper has a mysterious past' plot line has really paid out at all yet.

However, there are moments of genuine brilliance. Such as the bit early on when the secretaries are dancing sedately at some malt shop with the older execs and then the radio changes to some rock and roll and they all scream and start dancing that way whilst the guys look incredibly puzzled and slightly scared.

I think the show is hugely ambitious but I don't think that the writers are quite smart enough to pull all of these ideas into shape and make them really brilliant. I get a very similar vibe off of it as I do off of Breaking Bad. You can see that there's some serious acting going on and some themes and ideas are tentatively explored but the series never quite makes it to that upper level.

JonathanM wrote:I think the show is hugely ambitious but I don't think that the writers are quite smart enough to pull all of these ideas into shape and make them really brilliant.

That sums it up perfectly but the makers seem more content to be smug than improve upon their idea.

Why is Ken Cosgrove in this picture of the season 4 cast?

How did everyone like last night's episode?

Spoiler

I was surprised that it started at the new office rather than going back to the apartment office at season three close and showing us how they grew the agency from there. I would have liked to see them build it all again as I thought that'd be a good source for story development. The new office - well, new-ish as it looks like the old one but with ugly glass partitions - makes everything appear as normal despite the straitened financial conditions. In any case, it was a good start even if I'm already tired of Betty and the kids. The scene with Don and his date was funny. Campbell's first appearance was eye-rollingly hilarious. I loved the blue dress that Joan wore when Campbell broke the news about the client who left. I was also amused that even the hooker had Thanksgiving plans. Hopefully, there will be more Joan and Price in the next episode.